


the tranquility of twilight

by yohoapirateslifeforme



Category: One Piece
Genre: Character Study, Family Bonding, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 12:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yohoapirateslifeforme/pseuds/yohoapirateslifeforme
Summary: A little something written for Brook's birthday in March. Originally posted on tumblr, idea and motivation prompted by @everybrook's "Brook birthday bash".





	the tranquility of twilight

Thousand Sunny was tranquil for the first time in weeks. The last weeks had been a matter of sickly crew mates, visits to nearby harbors, an accidental robbery of a local drugstore and after that a series of nights filled with loud music, good food and alcohol for all. The reason for the party wasn't quite a concrete one. Luffy had simply been bored out of his mind from laying uselessly in his hammock for days, the sudden sickness having wrangled the buoyant boy into a mess of restless sleep and miserable whining.

Brook couldn’t stomach the sake Zoro had poured for him on one of those nights, with a healthy flush coating his cheeks and contrasting beautifully with the green of his hair. Brook had poured the contents of his untouched mug back to the bottle at the other swordsman's side. He himself had then resumed with the violin on his lap, fulfilled his job description. The night had seemed endless.

But now the ship was quiet, almost eerily so. Notes as light as the breathing of their composer – one couldn’t be certain if they were there at all – could only be heard if one took upon themselves to walk to the front of the Thousand Sunny.

A figurehead in the shape of a lion was not occupied with its usual companion.

Brook didn’t mind the cold – it was more of a social thing, to complain about the weather and climate. He was alone now: no one to tell a joke to, or to jokingly grumble about the unfairness of living in flesh versus living through bone. It certainly would’ve been cold, sitting on the figurehead, facing the merciless flurry of wind head-on. If one happened to have skin.

The Sunny hummed with his notes.

Brook could feel the spirit of the ship near him. This had happened before, and it had always happened in the same way. Brook had chosen this song with Sunny in mind, would continue to play and drag out the notes for as long as he could. Would let the spirit bring the song to completion. It was something for just the two of them, the two souls in their respectful, somewhat artificial or strange vessels.

It had been rough, trying to re-adjust to the energy a crew could radiate. To the energy of living creatures, of humans and cyborgs and reindeer and all. It had been so wonderful, it was almost too much. He loved every moment of it, but, ah, well… everyone had limits. The past weeks had felt as if they’d been lived through a constant state of a whole-body shock. A little too much, a little too fast. Not that he would change it for anything.

The spirit of Sunny sat its vague, non-existent spirit body next to Brook. He had been very much in touch with his own spirit, and the one of his old ship, who had passed on quietly after some ten years after the– hmm. After the incident. The ship he had died on hadn’t felt familiar for the last 40 years of his stay.

The violin stopped, prolonging out one last note till it couldn’t hold itself anymore. Sunny was silent. Brook felt an ache in his empty chest. The sound of flip-flops approached him from behind.

A stretch and a whop. A pair of skinny, tanned arms enveloped him thoroughly, with a natural ease. The captain was well again, better than before, filled with something strong that was distantly familiar and astonishingly new at the same instant.

The skeleton was thankful for the life which surrounded him daily. He was thankful for the calm nature of the ship, and the company which even it wanted to provide. He was thankful to finally be alive.


End file.
